Chili peppers and cannabis may seem completely unrelated when it comes to their effects on the brain, but a new study suggests they might have surprisingly similar impacts on the gut. Researchers have found that capsaicin, the compound responsible for chili peppers’ spiciness, interacts with a receptor in the gut that produces anandamide—a substance chemically similar to compounds found in cannabis.
In mice, consuming capsaicin triggered the production of anandamide, which helped reduce gut inflammation and even reversed type 1 diabetes. Anandamide worked by activating specific receptors that recruited anti-inflammatory immune cells, resulting in lower inflammation. This discovery highlights the potential of both chili peppers and edible cannabis to address conditions like type 1 diabetes and colitis, a type of colon inflammation.
The research was conducted by a team led by Pramod Srivastava, a professor of immunology and medicine at UConn Health in Farmington, Connecticut. Their findings, published in the *Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,* shed light on how gut health, the immune system, and the brain might be connected.
To reach these findings, the team administered capsaicin to mice with type 1 diabetes and analyzed its effects on the gut. They discovered that capsaicin targets a receptor called TRPV1, which stimulates the production of anandamide. Anandamide then interacts with another receptor, CX3CR1, which mobilizes a type of macrophage—a white blood cell that reduces inflammation. As anandamide levels increased, inflammation in the gut decreased, and the activity of anti-inflammatory immune cells improved. In fact, both capsaicin and anandamide independently reduced inflammation, and capsaicin even reversed diabetes in the mice.
The researchers noted that because anandamide is chemically similar to compounds in cannabis, it also binds to cannabinoid receptors in the brain. This suggests that edible cannabis could have similar anti-inflammatory effects on the gut and further emphasizes the complex relationship between the gut, the immune system, and the brain.
The study raises important questions about how these systems communicate. As Srivastava explained, the findings suggest that the immune system and the brain might share a form of “common language.” Future research will explore how edible cannabis specifically impacts gut inflammation in humans. With the legalization of cannabis in some states, collecting this kind of data has become more feasible. Srivastava stated an interest in working with public health authorities in states like Colorado to investigate whether edible cannabis use has influenced the severity of conditions like colitis.
Additionally, the researchers plan to dive deeper into the molecular mechanisms behind these effects, including identifying other potential receptors that anandamide may target. Understanding these pathways could open new doors to better treatments for inflammation-related conditions.